Tag Archives: YikYak

This librarian hangs out on YikYak to “hear” what students are saying about the library and the university. She mapped it as Visitor because she does not leave a social trace or participate actively, rather she “lurks” (elegantly or otherwise).

The hazard in instructional contexts is when ephemerality is combined with anonymity. Trolling and bad behavior is as much a part of the internet as it is in real life. it’s particularly visible to me on Twitter, but the fact is that the Internet is Made of People and we are not beyond the worst of our potential in digital or physical places. Racism, sexism, bullying behavior and worse are among the hazards of our society, and anonymity makes it much much easier to attack people and then slink away. In a digital instruction situation, anonymity is inappropriate. If we want for our students to take chances and speak to each other about concepts that they are unsure about or uncomfortable with, we also need to make sure those spaces are safe and that people are held accountable for their words. Anonymity makes that nearly impossible. Students in physical classrooms can be encouraged to speak, and we know who they are. Students in ephemeral digital classrooms should be identifiable to each other as the people who they are, to foster community as well as responsibility.